Authority and Performance: Sociological Perspectives on the Council of Chalcedon (AD 451)

Table of Contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
I. Introduction .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	15
A. Choices, Aims, and Structure .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	15
1. The Scholarly Context .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	16
2. Scope and Methodological Principles .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	19
3. Structure .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	28
B. The Council of Chalcedon:
Historical Background, Procedure, and Documentation . . . . . . 30
1. Before Chalcedon: The Councils of Ephesus I and II . . . . . . 31
2. Ecumenical Church Councils as a Governmental Tool . . . . . 34
3. Chalcedon: Location and Narrative of Events .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	37
4. Chalcedon: Procedure .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	43
5. Documentation of the Council .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	47
C. The Convenor of Chalcedon:
Marcian and his Theodosian Heritage .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	50
1. Accession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
2. Marcian’s Military and Foreign Problems .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	53
3. Marcian as a Christian Emperor .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	55
4. From Theodosius II to Marcian:
A Heritage of Imperial Religious Activism . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
5. The Two Romes: Byzantine and Roman Identities .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	58
6. Features in Marcian’s Identity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
D. Socio-Anthropological Perspectives in Reading Ancient Texts . . 62
1. Method and Approach .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	62
2. Grounds for Comparing Ancient and Modern Societies . . . . 66
3. The Purpose of Group Gatherings:
Contributions from Social Anthropology .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	70
4. Non-verbal Gestures: Gesticulation and Tonality in Chalcedon 77
5. Speech Acts as Performatives .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	81
6. The Ceremonial Functions of Language .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	84
II. Political and Social Networks .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	90
A. The Social Importance of Networking .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	90
B. Networks of Delegates in Chalcedon .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	91
1. The First Session: The Composition of the Imperial Delegation 93
2. Imperial Officials at the Sixth Session .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	95
3. State Officials as Religious Figures .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	96
C. The Formation of ‘Cleavages’ in Chalcedon .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	98
III. Language and Ceremonial .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	103
A. Discourse Analysis of Session I .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	103
1. The Use of Honorific Titles in the First Session . . . . . . . . . 104
2. Seating Games: Rhetoric and its Practice .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	107
3. Reading Out Loud as an Authoritative Act .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	113
4. Theodoret’s Grand Entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
5. The Role of the Imperial Establishment .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	122
6. The Process of Boundary Marking .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	125
7. Further Reactions to Ephesus I — Reading and Protesting . . . 129
8. He Who Defines is the One with Power .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	133
9. Dramatic Climaxes — Vocalization of the Dogma .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	135
10. Dioscorus vs. Theodoret .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	142
11. Dynamics of Disputation and Concord .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	144
12. Cyril of Alexandria .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	147
13. The Papal Delegates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
14. Communication Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
B. Discourse Analysis of Session II (On the Orthodox Faith) . . . . . 163
1. The Imperial Official as Leader .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	163
2. Harmony as a Token of Divine Providence .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	164
3. Anatolius’ Rhetorical Tactics .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	167
4. Rebellion against Anatolius .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	168
C. Summary of Discussions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
IV. The New Constantine: Marcian at Chalcedon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
A. Discourse Analysis of Session VI .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	174
1. Bailey’s Normative Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
2. Marcian as a Custos Fidei .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	175
3. Attendance and Signatory Lists —
Ceremonial and Societal Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
4. The Emperor Marcian’s Speeches — General Features .  .  .  .  .  	181
5. Marcian’s Speeches — Discourse Analysis .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	189
6. Concordia, Consensus, and Harmony, Again .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	198
B. Imperial Correspondence: The Sociolinguistic Angle .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	204
V. Conclusions .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	209
VI. Epilogue: Discussing Religion in a Gadamerian Culture . . . . . . . . 211
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
A. Ancient Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
B. Modern Literature, Translations, and Reference Works .  .  .  .  .  .  	215
Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Index of Subjects and Themes .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	224
Index of Personal and Place Names .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  	230
Index of Modern Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233